Saeed Abdi, a senior police officer in Somalia's semi-autonomous region of Puntland, said Thursday that a woman and child were among those who were killed in the blast in the region's commercial hub of Bossaso.

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No one has yet to claim responsibility for the attack but Abdi blames it on the al-Qaida-linked insurgent group al-Shabab. Al-Shabab is trying to expand its influence in northern Somalia after it was pushed out of its strongholds in southern Somalia last year by African Union and Ethiopian forces. AU and Ethiopian forces are bolstering Somalia's weak western-backed government.